Anonymous  +  650939 Thu, 22 Jan 09 02:52 AM I finished the book and realized the ending didnt relate to the story. I finished the book and have realized the ending didnt relate to the story. What is the difference between these 2 sentences and should I use the 'have'? Can someone generally tell me when to use has, had and have in both the present and past tense? Also, I have never tried entering the number. I had never tried entering the number. What's the difference? Anonymous Difference Between, Tenses, Past Tenses, Writing, Sentences

	CalifJim  +  650999 Thu, 22 Jan 09 04:19 AM I finished the book and realized the ending didnt relate to the story. I finished the book and have realized the ending didnt relate to the story.” Use the first one.  It has the past tense in both clauses.  The second one doesn't work.  There's no reason to change to a different tense for the second clause. I have never tried entering the number. I had never tried entering the number.” The difference is that the second is highly dependent on context.  It only makes sense in the context of a narrative where you need to go backwards in your story to tell about something that happened earlier. Search "past perfect" for more threads on this topic. CJ CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,446 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche Tenses, Clauses, Past Perfect, Past Tenses, Writing, Context

	Clive  +  651011 Thu, 22 Jan 09 04:23 AM Hi, Let's consider a few simple and concrete examples. Mary cooked dinner. She did this at some point in the past. Typically, the speaker would also tell us when. eg At 8pm last Friday, Mary cooked dinner.  Mary has cooked dinner. Theis tense indicats the statement has importance in the present. Dinner is on the table!  We don't need to be told when exactly she did this. Mary had cooked dinner. She did this in the past, before some later point in the past. We need to be told what that later point was. eg Tom came home at 7pm last night. Mary had cooked dinner. It was sitting on the table, so they sat down and ate it. Perhaps now you would like to review your earlier post. Do you still have questions? If so, please ask them again. If you search the Forum for 'Present Perfect' and 'Past Perfect', you will find a great deal of discussion about these tenses. Best wishes, Clive Clive Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004 Canada Veteran Member 29,650 El tango argentino es un pensamiento triste que se puede bailar (The tango argentino is a sad thought which can be danced) Enrique Santos Discépolo Tenses, Present Tenses, Past Perfect, Present Perfect, Past Tenses